1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a teleconference system which allows each attendant create information images using an individually allocated terminal equipment and to transmit them to other attendant's individual terminals so that all the attendants can effectively and smoothly proceed with a conference.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There has been developed the so-called teleconference system which allows attendants to proceed with a conference using a specific communication network for connecting respective remote places.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an arrangement of a teleconference system as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-61463 (1987).
The above teleconference system is provided with a large display unit 1 to which a plurality of individual terminal equipments 11 are connected for each attendant. Each individual terminal equipment 11 comprises a compact electronic blackboard 2 which allows each attendant to input individual views, a video selector 3 which is connected to the compact electronic blackboard 2, a compact display unit 6 which displays individual views of each attendant, and a hard copier 7 which reproduces hard copies of images displayed on the large display 1 or the compact display 6.
The entire teleconference system is composed of a video memory 5 used for the compact display unit 6 of the individual terminal equipment 11, a video memory 4 used for the large display unit 1, transmitting/receiving units 8 and 9 for communications between other systems of this kind.
Next, operation of the above conventional teleconference system is described below.
In case of expressing views, each attendant draws figures and sentences on the compact electronic blackboard 2 of the individual terminal equipment 11 using a felt-tip pen and the like. Then, each attendant operates the compact electronic blackboard 2 to convert the written content into electrical signals and selectively operates the video selector 3 to display the written content on the large display unit 1 or the respective compact display unit 6. In addition, information is transmitted and received between another of this kind of teleconference system through the transmitting/receiving unit 8 and 9, and thus, a conference is possible to be held between remote places.
In the conventional teleconference system, there have been difficulties that it occupies wide space in a conference room because of discrete hardware structures of the individual compact electronic blackboard 2 for receiving data and the individual compact display unit 6 for displaying data. This incurs much inconvenience at the conference for using a limited space effectively.
Furthermore, if an attendant expresses additional views or corrects views written by another attendant on the compact electronic blackboard 2, he needs to leave his seat to write his views or correct the content of the preceding views on the compact electronic blackboard 2. Although either of these difficulties can easily be overcome in one conference room, it is totally impossible for the conventional teleconference system to allow another attendant to write additional views or correct the content of the preceding figures or sentences on the compact electronic blackboard when a joint conference is held through a communication network being connected between remote places.